


Chelmsford

by MichisAccount



Category: 15th Century CE RPF, The Sunne in Splendour - Sharon Kay Penman, The White Queen (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-25
Updated: 2015-08-25
Packaged: 2018-04-17 04:59:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4653285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MichisAccount/pseuds/MichisAccount
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The teenaged Richard of Gloucester discovers the pitfalls and pleasures of being allowed to decide for himself what to do with his time for the first time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chelmsford

The Chelmsford forest had only looked calm and inviting.

When Richard had arrived in the small town he had been taken with it, had thought the nearby woods looked to be perfect hunting grounds, and the natives, when he had asked, had assured him they were so. “Your grace will not be disappointed” was a sentence he had heard at least three times, and Richard had seen no reason to doubt this. Why should he have?

Therefore, when he had awoken in the morning to find it was a sunny, warm day, he had decided that he would stay in Chelmsford longer than the day he had originally planned, and that they would be going hunting that day. He had much looked forward to it, too, and the heady feeling of being able to decide on this extension of his stay on his own, for reasons of his own pleasure, without having to ask anyone for permission first, had only made it better.

And at first, the hunting trip had indeed been everything he had imagined it to be. The small forest was perfect ground for it, and their haul was soon impressive. Richard had even thought that he might be able to donate some of the meat they shot and have it cooked and distributed to the poor. The thought had only cheered him more, and perhaps it was that which had made him become careless. That had allowed him to stop paying attention as he ought to.

And now this was the result.

If only he had not simply acted on a whim! Had not his cousin the earl always warned him against that? Told him to keep his head at all times? If only he had listened to him, then he would not be in this fix. If he had thought properly at all, he would have never had the idea of following a fleeing boar, trying to chase it down after it had dodged an arrow. He would have let it escape, would have recognised it was futile to follow the animal. There were plenty of other deer and boars in the forest, after all. He should have simply let the boar escape into the undergrowth. He should have definitely not done so by spurring his horse, leaving the rest of the hunting party but a single servant, behind him.

What had possessed him to do so, anyway? He shook his head to himself, thinking that his confessor had been right when telling him that any sort of arrogance was always punished. If he had not thought he could personally slay an animal that the arrows of all his companions had missed, he would not now be lost in a forest, cut off from his hunting party.

He did not like the thought at all, and vented his feelings by aiming a kick against the nearest tree, cursing softly under his breath. Now what? He looked around himself, but what he saw was not heartening. Trees, all looking the same, were everywhere, and there was absolutely no telling which way was the closest to a clearing, let along to Chelmsford. This was not good at all. Distantly, he could hear the shouts of the of his hunting party, but the echoes of the forest threw them around so much it was impossible to tell where they came from.

He was still wondering what he was to do when his glance fell on the single servant still in his presence - a man named Thomas - who was holding the reins of the horses, muttering calmingly to them, which made him only more irritated. How could the man be so utterly calm? Where did he take the serenity to quieten animals?

“Well?”, he barked at him, only to startle him a bit. To make him less relaxed than he currently was. Did the man not realise they were lost in a forest? Did he not know this could be very dangerous? Did he not realise they needed to be alert? “What do we do now?”

“As your lordship commands”, Thomas murmured, and Richard growled. “Well then, I command you to find a way out of here.” This was mean, and dimly he realise he was being unfair, but there was no time now for the jabs of his conscience. He would worry about this later. If he ever got out of this dratted forest. Why had he ever thought ot would be fun to hunt in here?

His servant was looking at him. “How so?”, he asked, quietly. For a moment, Richard was tempted to snarl at him to find a way, before he stopped himself. This would avail to nothing. They were both lost, and they both needed to find a way out. If Thomas did not know how, there was no point in demanding he start knowing now.

Next time he would make sure he brought servants who were good at navigating.

For now, it seemed he was dependant on his own wits, and he tried to concentrate. Had there been anything he had learnt at the earl`s household which could help him now? There had to have been, but all he could now think of was how exasperated his cousin would be if he knew the trouble he had landed himself in. He could almost hear him sigh aggressively, and that was not helpful.

Francis and Rob would have laughed forever, and this thought was also not helpful.

It took him a while until he hit on the obvious solution, and then he could have hit himself for not thinking of it earlier. What was happening with him right now? Had he left his brains in his lodgings?

He could dwell on that later, too. Right now, what was important was getting out of these woods. “We shall follow our own traces”, he said to Thomas, who was still watching him, silently, and tried his best to sound authorative and self-confident. “You can see how the undergrowth is trampled there, where we passed, and similar traces must be wherever we past.” At least he hoped so. “If we follow them, we will arrive back in Chelmsford within the hour.”

Thomas nodded, bowed, murmuing: “Yes, your grace”, then held out the stirrup for him so he could mount his horse, which Richard did without looking at him. He was not certain he could keep his self-doubt from his face, and it was no business of this man to see it.

However, it soon became apparent that he had been correct and his plan a good one. There were indeed signs of the hunting party visible wherever they had passed, and if following them did not lead directly back into the city, it would lead them back to his companions.

The ride took longer than the hour he had estimated, though, and by the time Chelmsford came into view - much to Richard`s relief - he could feel sweat pouring down his back, and his hair stuck to his head beneath his cap. He certainly did not look much like a royal duke and king´s brother ought to look like.

If Edward ever found out what had happened, he would never let him forget it. Much less, Richard realised with a shudder, would George. He would have to swear Thomas to secrecy. As for the rest of the hunting party - if he could arrive back at his lodgings quickly enough, and they had not yet returned themselves, he could freshen up and pretend that after losing trail of the boar, he had been taken with a sudden indisposition and therefore returned earlier.

This seemed like a good plan.

Freshening up sounded good, too, He was probably utterly dirty, now. And he needed a drink. Something strong. Some ale, perhaps.

The more he thought about it, the more did he think that having an ale was even more important right at the moment than having a wash. His throat was parched, and he needed some way to calm down.

He was still struggling with himself when they had entered the town again and were passing by an inn called “The Black Boy”, and Richard found his eyes drawn to it. It did look very inviting. Very …

“Stop!”, he ordered, and Thomas, startled, did as told, throwing him a look. “Your grace? Is there -” “I wish to enter this inn”, Richard answered, hoping he sounded as confident as Edward did when he announced something unexpected out of nowhere. “I am thirsty.”

If Thomas`s look was anything to go by, he did not quite succeed, but the man did not protest, only bowing his head. “As your grace wishes.”

Not giving him another look, Richard dismounted, leaving him with the horses and walking directly to the inn. No one seemed to recognise him while he did so, but when he entered the building, he heard a few gasps, and smiled to himself. It did have its perks, being the king`s brother.

At least he hoped the gasps were because he was the Duke of Gloucester and the king`s brother, not because he looked bedraggled and was about to be thrown out of the inn.

This notion was soon dispelled, though, when a blonde girl about his age approached him, curtseying breathlessly. “Your grace - are you -?” “I am the Duke of Gloucester”, Richard answered, feeling rather smug at the look of adoration on her face. “It is an honour”, she breathed. “I thought - perhaps I was mistaken -”

“You were not.” Her delight at meeting him felt good after the fright he had had in the forest. “I wished to have a drink, just like everyone else in here.” This, for some reason, only made her smile more. “I shall tell my father”, she said. “I am certain he will give you his best ale for free.” And before he could say anything or protest that he could pay, even if he didn`t look like he was carrying valuables at the moment, she had turned to hurry away.

Shrugging - he wasn`t about to stop anyone from giving him presents if doing so was their wish - he sat down at a table in a corner, and a few moments later, the girl returned with a large mug of ale and an even bigger smile. “Here you are, your grace.”

“I thank you”, Richard answered, and then, on an impulse, “Do you not wish to join me?” “Yes your grace.” Beaming at him, she sat down. “My name is Joan.” “Well, it is a pleasure to meet you”, Richard said, taking a gulp of the ale, relishing the way it ran down his throat. “Delicious.”

It was the truth - though, thirsty as he was, he would have probably found anything delicious - but he had to admit to announcing his pleasure partly to see the effect it had on his pretty companion. He was not disappointed; her look of delight only grew.

Perhaps getting lost in the forest had not been such a bad thing after all. The more the ale warmed him and the girl`s talk cheered him, the more did he think that it might have been worth it after all. Joan came closer as she spoke, and by the time his mug was almost empty, she was near enough he could put his arm around her.

This was not uncomfortable at all.

He was just wondering if he should say something, ask her if she did wish to visit him this evening, when a sudden shout interrupted this thought and made her flinch.

“There he is!”

As he whirled around, he saw a member of his hunting party, dishevelled, run towards him. “Duke Richard.” “Excuse me”, RIchard murmured to his pretty companion, then shot to his feet. Joan should not hear about what had happened in the woods.

It wasn`t dashing at all, and he had just been certain he had made a good impression of being so on her.

“Yes?”, he hissed, stopping the man from stepping any closer. “I am - your grace, have you have been here the whole time?” “Almost”, Richard said. “And I do wish to remain here for a while yet.”

“Yes - but -” “Do you want to contradict me?”, Richard growled, hoping he sounded threatening enough to prevent just that from happening. Apparently he succeeded, for the man simply bowed. “No, your grace. We were simply worried.”

“There was no reason to be”, Richard said, and the man bowed again, excusing himself, and leaving him to go back to Joan, who was watching with interest.

Richard smiled at her, sitting down next to her again, and pretending not to notice the looks the man withdrawing gave him.

After all, he could not know there had indeed been reason to worry for a while.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this quote from “Richard III`s “Beloved Cousyn”. John Howard and the House of York.” by John Ashdown-Hill:
> 
> "In July 1467 or 1468 Richard of Gloucester set off along the route of he present A12. It was perhaps the first time he had enjoyed the freedom of choosing his destination for himself. His journey would have taken him via Chelmsford, and a vague and ill-documented report survives of a brief visit to Chelmsford by Richard, which may relate to this journey. “There is a tradition that Richard III caused his hunting party much concern. Thinking him lost in the forest, they searched high and low, to discover him eventually passing his time pleasantly … in the Black Boy.” Although the only source I have found for this story refers to “Richard III” (as though the Chelmsford visit had taken place in the 1480s), in fact the Richard of the Chelmsford story seems to have been a rather young and thoughtless individual, suggesting that if the tale has any basis it may well relate to an earlier period. Moreover, Richard never visited Chelmsford as king, so the story could only relate to the period before his accession."
> 
> Again, this is inspired by the historical persons and real events, not by "The White Queen" or "The Sunne in Splendour", but posted here for lack of other fandoms.


End file.
